John Winston
2005-10-24 22:19:35 UTC
Subject: Hidden Wisdom. Part 3. Oct. 24, 2005.
It seems that the knowledge that we have in the Western World comes
from these people who are listed in this material. Be it right or
wrong this is where we get our knowledge. As for me I'd rather listen
to Babaji.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
------------------can be moved, since to be moved it must be taken out
of the place in which it is and put into the place where it is not,
which is impossible because all things must always be in the places
where they are.
The Cynics were a sect founded by Antisthenes of Athens (444-365?
B.C.), a disciple of Socrates. Their doctrine may be described as an
extreme individualism which considers man as existing for himself alone
and advocates surrounding him by inharmony, suffering, and direst need
that be may thereby be driven to retire more completely into his own
nature. The Cynics renounced all worldly possessions, living in the
rudest shelters and subsisting upon the coarsest and simplest food. On
the assumption that the g-d- wanted nothing, the Cynics affirmed that
those whose needs were fewest consequently approached closest to the
div-nities. Being asked what he gained by a life of philosophy,
Antisthenes replied that he had learned how to converse with himself.
Diogenes of Sinopis is remembered chiefly for the tub in the Metroum
which for many years served him as a home. The people of Athens loved
the beggar-philosopher, and when a youth in jest bored holes in the
tub, the city presented Diogenes with a new one and punished the youth.
Diogenes believed that nothing in life can be rightly accomplished
without exercitation. He maintained that everything in the world
belongs to the wise, a declaration which he proved by the following
logic: "All things belong to the go-s; the g-ds are friends to wise
persons; all things are common amongst friends; therefore all things
belong to the wise." Among the Cynics are Monimus, Onesicritus, Crates,
Metrocles, Hipparchia (who married Crates), Menippus, and Menedemus.
The Cyrenaic sect, founded by Aristippus of Cyrene (435-356? B.C.),
promulgated the doctrine of hedonism. Learning of the fame of Socrates,
Aristippus journeyed to Athens and applied himself to the teachings of
the great Skeptic. Socrates, pained by the voluptuous and mercenary
tendencies of Aristippus, vainly labored to reform the young man.
Aristippus has the distinction of being consistent in principle and
practice, for he lived in perfect harmony with his philosophy that the
quest of pleasure was the chief purpose of life. The doctrines of the
Cyrenaics may be summarized thus: All that is actually known concerning
any object or condition is the feeling which it awakens in man's own
nature. In the sphere of ethics that which awakens the most pleasant
feeling is consequently to be esteemed as the greatest good. Emotional
reactions are classified as pleasant or gentle, harsh, and mean. The
end of pleasant emotion is pleasure; the end of harsh emotion, grief;
the end of mean emotion, nothing.
Through mental perversity some men do not desire pleasure. In
reality, however, pleasure (especially of a physical nature) is the
true end of existence and exceeds in every way mental and spir-tual
enjoyments. Pleasure, furthermore, is limited wholly to the moment;
now is the only time. The past cannot be regarded without regret and
the future cannot be faced without misgiving; therefore neither is
conducive to pleasure. No man should grieve, for grief is the most
serious of all dis-ases. Nature permits man to do anything he desires;
he is limited only by his own laws and customs. A philosopher is one
free from envy, love, and superstition, and whose days are one long
round of pleasure.
Indulgence was thu elevated by Aristippus to the chief position
among the virtues. He further declared philosophers to differ markedly
from other men in that they alone would not change the order of their
lives if all the laws of men were abolished. Among prominent
philosophers influenced by the Cyrenaic doctrines were Hegesias,
Anniceris, Theodorus, and Bion.
The sect of the Academic philosophers instituted by Plato (427-347
B.C.) was divided into three major parts--the old, the middle, and the
new Academy. Among the old Academics were Speusippus, Zenocrates,
Poleman, Crates, and Crantor. Arcesilaus instituted the middle Academy
and Carneades founded the new. Chief among the masters of Plato was
Socrates. Plato traveled widely and was initiated by the Egyptians into
the profundities of Hermetic philosophy. He also derived much from the
doctrines of the Pythagoreans. Cicero describes the threefold
constitution of Platonic philosophy as comprising ethics, physics, and
dialectics. Plato defined good as threefold in character: good in the
so-l, expressed through the virtues; good in the body, expressed
through the symmetry and endurance of the parts; and good in the
external world, expressed through social position and companionship.
In The Book of Speusippus on Platonic Definitions, that great
Platonist thus defines Go-: "A being that lives immortally by means of
Himself alone, sufficing for His own blessedness, the eternal Essence,
cause of His own goodness. According to Plato, the One is the term most
suitable for defining the Absolute, since the whole precedes the parts
and diversity is dependent on unity, but unity not on diversity. The
One, moreover, is before being, for to be is an attribute or condition
of the One.
Platonic philosophy is based upon the postulation of three orders of
being: that which moves unmoved, that which is self-moved, and that
which is moved.
That which is immovable but moves is anterior to that which is
self-moved, which likewise is anterior to that which it moves. That in
which motion is inherent cannot be separated from its motive power; it
is therefore incapable of dissolution. Of such nature are the
immortals.
That which has motion imparted to it from another can be separated
from the source of its an animating principle; it is therefore subject
to dissolution. Of such nature are mortal beings.
Superior to both the mortals and the immortals is that condition
which continually moves yet itself is unmoved. To this constitution the
power of abidance is inherent; it is therefore the Divine Permanence
upon which all things are established. Being nobler even than
self-motion, the unmoved Mover is the first of all dignities. The
Platonic discipline was founded upon the theory that learning is really
reminiscence, or the bringing into objectivity of knowledge formerly
acquired by the sou- in a previous state of existence. At the entrance
of the Platonic school in the Academy were written the words: "Let none
ignorant of geometry enter here."
After the death of Plato, his disciples separated into two groups.
One, the Academics, continued to meet in the Academy where once he had
presided; the other, the Peripatetics, removed to the Lyceum under the
leadership of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). Plato recognized Aristotle as
his greatest disciple and, according to Philoponus, referred to him as
"the mind of the school." If Aristotle were absent from the lectures,
Plato would say: "The intellect is not here." Of the prodigious genius
of Aristotle, Thomas Taylor writes in his introduction to The
Metaphysics:
"When we consider that he was not only well acquainted with every
science, as his works abundantly evince, but that he wrote on almost
every subject which is comprehended in the circle of human knowledge,
and this with matchless accuracy and skill, we know not which to admire
most, the penetration or extent of his mind."
"THE PROBLEM OF DIVERSITY."
1>From Kircher's Ars Magna Sciendi.
In the above diagram Kircher arranges eighteen objects in two
vertical columns and then determines he number of arrangements in which
they can be combined. By the same method Kircher further estimates that
fifty objects may be arranged in 1,273,726,838,815,420,339,851,343,
083,767,005,515,293,749,454,795,408,000,000,000,000 combinations. From
this it will be evident that infinite diversity is possible, for the
countless parts of the universe may be related to each other in an
incalculable number of ways; and through the various combinations of
these limitless subdivisions of being, infinite individuality and
infinite variety must inevitably result. Thus it is further evident
that life can never become monotonous or exhaust the possibilities of
variety.
Of the philosophy of Aristotle, the same author says: "The end of
Aristotle's moral philosophy is perfection through the virtues, and the
end of his contemplative philosophy an union with the one principle of
all things."
Aristotle conceived philosophy to be twofold: practical and
theoretical. Practical philosophy embraced ethics and politics;
theoretical philosophy, physics and logic. Me-aphysics he considered
to be the science concerning that substance which has the principle of
motion and rest inherent to itself. To Aristotle the -oul is that by
which man first lives, feels, and understands.
Hence to the s-ul he assigned three faculties: nutritive, sensitive,
and intellective. He further considered the soul to be
twofold--rational and irrational--and in some particulars elevated the
sense perceptions above the mind. Aristotle defined wisdom as the
science of first Causes. The four major divisions of his philosophy
are dialectics, physics, ethics, and meta-hysics.
Go- is defined as the First Mover, the Best of beings, an immovable
Substance, separate from sensible things, void of corporeal quantity,
without parts and indivisible. Platonism is based upon a priori
reasoning; Aristotelianism upon a posteriori reasoning. Aristotle
taught his pupil, Alexander the Great, to feel that if he had not done
a good deed he had not reigned that day.
Among his followers were Theophrastus, Strato, Lyco, Aristo,
Critolaus, and Diodorus.
Part 3.
John Winston. ***@mlode.com
It seems that the knowledge that we have in the Western World comes
from these people who are listed in this material. Be it right or
wrong this is where we get our knowledge. As for me I'd rather listen
to Babaji.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
------------------can be moved, since to be moved it must be taken out
of the place in which it is and put into the place where it is not,
which is impossible because all things must always be in the places
where they are.
The Cynics were a sect founded by Antisthenes of Athens (444-365?
B.C.), a disciple of Socrates. Their doctrine may be described as an
extreme individualism which considers man as existing for himself alone
and advocates surrounding him by inharmony, suffering, and direst need
that be may thereby be driven to retire more completely into his own
nature. The Cynics renounced all worldly possessions, living in the
rudest shelters and subsisting upon the coarsest and simplest food. On
the assumption that the g-d- wanted nothing, the Cynics affirmed that
those whose needs were fewest consequently approached closest to the
div-nities. Being asked what he gained by a life of philosophy,
Antisthenes replied that he had learned how to converse with himself.
Diogenes of Sinopis is remembered chiefly for the tub in the Metroum
which for many years served him as a home. The people of Athens loved
the beggar-philosopher, and when a youth in jest bored holes in the
tub, the city presented Diogenes with a new one and punished the youth.
Diogenes believed that nothing in life can be rightly accomplished
without exercitation. He maintained that everything in the world
belongs to the wise, a declaration which he proved by the following
logic: "All things belong to the go-s; the g-ds are friends to wise
persons; all things are common amongst friends; therefore all things
belong to the wise." Among the Cynics are Monimus, Onesicritus, Crates,
Metrocles, Hipparchia (who married Crates), Menippus, and Menedemus.
The Cyrenaic sect, founded by Aristippus of Cyrene (435-356? B.C.),
promulgated the doctrine of hedonism. Learning of the fame of Socrates,
Aristippus journeyed to Athens and applied himself to the teachings of
the great Skeptic. Socrates, pained by the voluptuous and mercenary
tendencies of Aristippus, vainly labored to reform the young man.
Aristippus has the distinction of being consistent in principle and
practice, for he lived in perfect harmony with his philosophy that the
quest of pleasure was the chief purpose of life. The doctrines of the
Cyrenaics may be summarized thus: All that is actually known concerning
any object or condition is the feeling which it awakens in man's own
nature. In the sphere of ethics that which awakens the most pleasant
feeling is consequently to be esteemed as the greatest good. Emotional
reactions are classified as pleasant or gentle, harsh, and mean. The
end of pleasant emotion is pleasure; the end of harsh emotion, grief;
the end of mean emotion, nothing.
Through mental perversity some men do not desire pleasure. In
reality, however, pleasure (especially of a physical nature) is the
true end of existence and exceeds in every way mental and spir-tual
enjoyments. Pleasure, furthermore, is limited wholly to the moment;
now is the only time. The past cannot be regarded without regret and
the future cannot be faced without misgiving; therefore neither is
conducive to pleasure. No man should grieve, for grief is the most
serious of all dis-ases. Nature permits man to do anything he desires;
he is limited only by his own laws and customs. A philosopher is one
free from envy, love, and superstition, and whose days are one long
round of pleasure.
Indulgence was thu elevated by Aristippus to the chief position
among the virtues. He further declared philosophers to differ markedly
from other men in that they alone would not change the order of their
lives if all the laws of men were abolished. Among prominent
philosophers influenced by the Cyrenaic doctrines were Hegesias,
Anniceris, Theodorus, and Bion.
The sect of the Academic philosophers instituted by Plato (427-347
B.C.) was divided into three major parts--the old, the middle, and the
new Academy. Among the old Academics were Speusippus, Zenocrates,
Poleman, Crates, and Crantor. Arcesilaus instituted the middle Academy
and Carneades founded the new. Chief among the masters of Plato was
Socrates. Plato traveled widely and was initiated by the Egyptians into
the profundities of Hermetic philosophy. He also derived much from the
doctrines of the Pythagoreans. Cicero describes the threefold
constitution of Platonic philosophy as comprising ethics, physics, and
dialectics. Plato defined good as threefold in character: good in the
so-l, expressed through the virtues; good in the body, expressed
through the symmetry and endurance of the parts; and good in the
external world, expressed through social position and companionship.
In The Book of Speusippus on Platonic Definitions, that great
Platonist thus defines Go-: "A being that lives immortally by means of
Himself alone, sufficing for His own blessedness, the eternal Essence,
cause of His own goodness. According to Plato, the One is the term most
suitable for defining the Absolute, since the whole precedes the parts
and diversity is dependent on unity, but unity not on diversity. The
One, moreover, is before being, for to be is an attribute or condition
of the One.
Platonic philosophy is based upon the postulation of three orders of
being: that which moves unmoved, that which is self-moved, and that
which is moved.
That which is immovable but moves is anterior to that which is
self-moved, which likewise is anterior to that which it moves. That in
which motion is inherent cannot be separated from its motive power; it
is therefore incapable of dissolution. Of such nature are the
immortals.
That which has motion imparted to it from another can be separated
from the source of its an animating principle; it is therefore subject
to dissolution. Of such nature are mortal beings.
Superior to both the mortals and the immortals is that condition
which continually moves yet itself is unmoved. To this constitution the
power of abidance is inherent; it is therefore the Divine Permanence
upon which all things are established. Being nobler even than
self-motion, the unmoved Mover is the first of all dignities. The
Platonic discipline was founded upon the theory that learning is really
reminiscence, or the bringing into objectivity of knowledge formerly
acquired by the sou- in a previous state of existence. At the entrance
of the Platonic school in the Academy were written the words: "Let none
ignorant of geometry enter here."
After the death of Plato, his disciples separated into two groups.
One, the Academics, continued to meet in the Academy where once he had
presided; the other, the Peripatetics, removed to the Lyceum under the
leadership of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). Plato recognized Aristotle as
his greatest disciple and, according to Philoponus, referred to him as
"the mind of the school." If Aristotle were absent from the lectures,
Plato would say: "The intellect is not here." Of the prodigious genius
of Aristotle, Thomas Taylor writes in his introduction to The
Metaphysics:
"When we consider that he was not only well acquainted with every
science, as his works abundantly evince, but that he wrote on almost
every subject which is comprehended in the circle of human knowledge,
and this with matchless accuracy and skill, we know not which to admire
most, the penetration or extent of his mind."
"THE PROBLEM OF DIVERSITY."
1>From Kircher's Ars Magna Sciendi.
In the above diagram Kircher arranges eighteen objects in two
vertical columns and then determines he number of arrangements in which
they can be combined. By the same method Kircher further estimates that
fifty objects may be arranged in 1,273,726,838,815,420,339,851,343,
083,767,005,515,293,749,454,795,408,000,000,000,000 combinations. From
this it will be evident that infinite diversity is possible, for the
countless parts of the universe may be related to each other in an
incalculable number of ways; and through the various combinations of
these limitless subdivisions of being, infinite individuality and
infinite variety must inevitably result. Thus it is further evident
that life can never become monotonous or exhaust the possibilities of
variety.
Of the philosophy of Aristotle, the same author says: "The end of
Aristotle's moral philosophy is perfection through the virtues, and the
end of his contemplative philosophy an union with the one principle of
all things."
Aristotle conceived philosophy to be twofold: practical and
theoretical. Practical philosophy embraced ethics and politics;
theoretical philosophy, physics and logic. Me-aphysics he considered
to be the science concerning that substance which has the principle of
motion and rest inherent to itself. To Aristotle the -oul is that by
which man first lives, feels, and understands.
Hence to the s-ul he assigned three faculties: nutritive, sensitive,
and intellective. He further considered the soul to be
twofold--rational and irrational--and in some particulars elevated the
sense perceptions above the mind. Aristotle defined wisdom as the
science of first Causes. The four major divisions of his philosophy
are dialectics, physics, ethics, and meta-hysics.
Go- is defined as the First Mover, the Best of beings, an immovable
Substance, separate from sensible things, void of corporeal quantity,
without parts and indivisible. Platonism is based upon a priori
reasoning; Aristotelianism upon a posteriori reasoning. Aristotle
taught his pupil, Alexander the Great, to feel that if he had not done
a good deed he had not reigned that day.
Among his followers were Theophrastus, Strato, Lyco, Aristo,
Critolaus, and Diodorus.
Part 3.
John Winston. ***@mlode.com